MUMBAI: Many a head nodded in agreement as
Nirmala Devi, spiritual leader and founder of
Sahaja Yoga, said, "Don't be too harsh on
yourself. Stop feeling guilty about what has
happened. Forgive yourself and forgive others.''

She was speaking to the officers of Indian
Administrative Service on "Stress and Tension
Management'' at the Y.B. Chavan auditorium on
Saturday afternoon.

She described the IAS and IPS officers as the
"spine of the country'' and said that they should
not be under any kind of stress or strain.

For Mataji as she is popularly known, peace lies
within an individual and it needs to be discovered.
According to her, it is essential to go into the
meditative state to reach that state. "And it is just
the beginning of a transformation that takes us to
a higher level of awareness,'' she said.

Nirmala Devi noted that people were not aware
of the subtle system that works within every
being. Explaining the concept of "kundalini
awakening'', she said that the kundalini was the
energy that lay dormant in the sacrum (bone at
the base of the spine). In a broader sense,
kundalini awakening was the process of
self-realisation, which helps a person overcome
stress and heals the harried nervous system. She
believes that self-realisation was a person's first
encounter with reality.

According to the shastras also, she said, power
resides within every human being. Sahaja Yoga
uses this subtle inner instrument -- kundalini, to
bring about a balance in the physical, mental,
emotional and spiritual being.

"When the kundalini is awakened, it helps the
person humble down. It also brings about
self-realisation. The awakening itself is known as
self-realisation,'' she said. She added that people
needed to relax today, and that too was possible
with this awakening.

In her book, "Stress Management through
Sahaja Yoga", she has explained that the left
sympathetic nervous system, represents the
power of desire of an individual, while the right
represents power of action. "And it is the left
side that you can control," she said, adding that
there should be a balance between the two.

Sahaja Yoga aims at achieving holistic health care
for people with meditation. Elaborating on the
benefits of meditation, she said that a person
could attain a peaceful state of mind and still stay
alert. "One feels compassion for humanity and is
able to let go of anger, hatred, fear, resentment
and other negative traits that inhibit a person's
growth,'' she said.

Nirmala Devi started the propagation of Sahaja
Yoga in 1970 and today over 85 countries the
world-over, have Sahaja Yoga centres. Having
been associated with the freedom struggle, she
said, that this technique of self-realisation also
makes a person patriotic. "As those who practice
it are above materialism and can sacrifice
anything,'' she noted.

Commenting on the human tendency to brood
over the past, she reiterated that to feel bad about
the past was inconsequential. "If you feel bad,
you torture yourself. Learn to stay in the present
and stay balanced,'' she said.back to top